Righteous
by It-Ended-At-3
Summary: Kaitou Kid admitted that he took the taunting too far. He had the sneaking suspicion that Conan's vision had inverted his white tuxedo into a more sinister color. It was a painful thing to watch. [Kaito-Shinichi study] [One-shot]


Summary: Kaitou Kid admitted that he took the taunting too far. He had the sneaking suspicion that Conan's vision had inverted his white tuxedo into a more sinister color. It was a painful thing to watch. [Kaito-Shinichi study] [One-shot]

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><p><span><strong>Righteous<strong>

_A Detective Conan fanfiction_

"_I have been __**wronged**_."

The words were grounded in a voice shaking with a deep set rage. It was a harsh whisper that lit a fire behind the large blue eyes of the speaker. The child shuddered and clenched his tiny hands so tight, Kaito feared he draw blood with his sharp nails. The boy's breath had a momentary hitch at an unexpected rush of adrenaline, a vivid mental image of screaming crows and rumbling Porsche engines jerking his frail body into overdrive.

There was a side to the thief that fluffed with coy pride atop the roof of that night's heist location in the appropriate blanket of moonlight. What a success story it was to push _this_ button combination on a specimen like his beloved _Tantei-kun_. It made him shiver with the delight that fueled the uniquely distinct heists that the little detective guest starred in. He had sworn to be careful around the taunting subjects like 'justice' and 'truth' and… 'hypocrisy' around a righteous fellow like him. Yet that was such a tall order for someone jacked up on chaos like the surprisingly reckless thief. What could he say? After so long, it was hard to get any real kicks here.

Guess they both had stooped pretty low.

You could see it in his cherub-like face. Deep bags of sleepless nights clung to his dull gaze. The moon glinted off of a pale and sickly complexion, it was a pure wonder how his doting guardian hadn't noticed by now. His posture was jilted and tired while his jaw was clenched around grinding teeth. He may have been packed with baby fat but he had the contrary look of starvation in the moment of his response. Like some creature from a B-movie he had this creepy fervor in gaze that wasn't there a few minutes ago. Yes, he was hungry. It struck a chord at how instant the connection was made inside the magician's mind.

This was the look of someone at the end of his rope. The wind howled between their petrified defensive stances.

"…and I _will_ get justice."

Justice. The kid was on a soap-box. He had his insufferable pride. He couldn't stand to have his morals questioned so blatantly and it therefore made him a very amusing sight.

"Really?" He heard himself sing. "And where do I fall in your plans?"

He wasn't exactly thinking then. He just assumed it was better to talk business than to dwell in the dangerous zone of personal feelings.

It seemed to elicit a reaction. The shrunken teen gave a sudden sneer.

"Don't flatter yourself. You're petty. Mindless entertainment." _ While I rot._

"I'm hurt." He moaned theatrically. He dare not fuel the response with the _real_ twist of offense he felt. "I could have sworn we were on friendlier terms?"

He recoiled. The child had a look of disgust that looked plain wrong on a face his age. Yet there was a very telltale stretch in his brow that Kaito knew very well.

"Don't insult me. I am no friend to _criminals_ like you."

He spoke like he was talking to filth. The child was practically snarling, abhorrence embodied to the point of comedy. Kaito had begun to feel the tickle of surprise at the extent of Conan's emotional response. The detective tightened the aim of his stun-gun wrist watch and furrowed his brow in a grotesque twist that was off putting. His eyes were seething with a fire that seemed to chill him to the bone. That was a look of pure _hate._

The thief was pulled from his grip-like focus so suddenly his card-gun dipped down slightly.

"Tantei-kun." He whispered in realization. The boy's eyes bore daggers and his teeth were bared like some primal beast.

_He's not seeing me at all_.

The fear was suddenly clear as day. His shaking limbs. The paranoid twitching. The frantic breathing. It was like the boy had opened up a flood gate of senseless rage. He had the sneaking suspicion that Conan's vision had inverted his white tuxedo into a more sinister color.

"Don't speak to me with such familiarity!" He practically screamed.

"Oh my god." Kaito let the gun fall to his side at the pathetic and broken sight before him.

How the mighty have fallen.

There was a time when this man stood _too_ proud in the face of adversary. He was obsessed with being so right and just it was impossible to doubt his genuine heart. He was fierce and that had made him an opponent to be feared and respected—even tethered by shame as he was. Kaito had treated their passing as occasional sparkles of zest to an arduous and tireless journey.

After all that, is this what he got in return?

The child was visibly jostled by KID's ceasefire but he tightened his stance, the cross-hairs struggling to aim properly. It was pathetic.

His eyes danced with a spike of uncertainty behind the thick lenses. There was an unconscious whimper.

Kaito's Poker Face must have dropped. The pity coursing through him was like a heavy sickness.

"I-I was wronged!" The boy spat in helpless defense of an invisible ambush.

...An image of himself as a young boy surfaced in his mind—A child's magic kit in shambles along the floor at his feet as he kicked the pieces senselessly.

"You're a _criminal_!" His red sneakers shuffled a step back.

...He recalled the blazing fire of the newspapers, searing with his misaimed rage.

"G-Get back!" His fingers couldn't seem to close on the trigger.

His steps were even and slow. His face covered with shadows and tight lips.

"I mean it!"

...

The thing about disappointment was that it was the embodiment of unsatisfying.

He grabbed the child tightly around the propped up wrist and the nape of his neck, forcefully jerking the boy's head to look him in the eye without the frantic shifting.

"Kudo."

Something in his hysterical eyes clicked, as though looking him in the eye didn't insure he had his fullest attention.

The words hovered on his tongue but they got caught in his throat. Conan looked a lot like himself—a younger Kaito from a very trying time.

"I'm sorry."

One click later and the child grew limp in his arms, his watch pointing in the opposite direction from earlier.

KID left the bounty of that night on the roof from which he departed—a shortly worded note alongside it to pacify any serious worry. In the rustling wind the Phantom glided with his head hung low and his arms coiled around the small teen. He imagined he was carrying himself from the weeks following his father's death.

There had been so much rage and anguish. It had been an accident, but Kaito had fought bitterly for someone or something to blame, and most importantly—something to _do_. He imagined that Kudo was going through something similar; frustrated not so much with placing blame but with acting upon it. Revenge wasn't a very pretty word to live by, but when you're forced to have it fuel your fire, you face a world of hypocrisy and lies—beyond the help of justice.

Kaito banked left toward Beika-cho. Maybe waking up in his old bedroom would give his kindred rival a small moment of freedom?

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><p><span>Author Note:<span> Meh… just something I cooked up while planning my Magic Kaito epic _The Turn. _You know how you think of one line and just roll with it? …well that's what happened here. One day I will write Shinichi properly in character—but until then he is my angst punching bag. This was originally going to be a duel analysis of both Conan _and _Kaito's degeneration of motivic resolve but I ended up focusing on Conan more.

I tried to write a little more implicatively. Leave specifics up the reader and such… It's a work in progress but I liked it. The cold open of the conversation is a little strange I'll admit but I like to suspend the disbelief there. The taunting between the two of them is a fun aspect of their relationship I stretched it a bit farther than possible. I mean Kaito isn't as ruthless as to completely belittle a respected peer like that, but I like to think that Kaito's slipping himself. They are both hypocrites and liars and they have the misfortune of knowing that. They are mirrors of each other, making interaction a thing of introspection.

Thanks for Reading! Drop a review if you like.

-It-Ended-At-3


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